Chapter 748 Progress in Nuclear Weapons

Letting the army participate in hunting hares is a proposal that Arthur has never thought of.

But think about it. Soldiers shooting fixed targets is also training, and shooting moving hares is even more training.

It is even more difficult to hit a hare than to shoot a fixed target, and it may be more conducive to improving the hit rate of soldiers.

As for the expenditure of some funds brought by organizing the army to hunt hares on a large scale, it is not a big deal for Australasia at present.

It just happens to allow the army to conduct long-term training, first to train the army's combat capabilities in various terrains, and second to train the soldiers' shooting skills.

After thinking carefully and thinking that this method is feasible, Arthur did not hesitate.

Arthur asked William to go to the Ministry of Defense himself and let the General Staff formulate a plan to mobilize the army to hunt hares.

If the number of hares can be effectively eliminated, it will also be a merit and credit to William.

Of course, if the hares cannot be effectively eliminated, it can be said that the army can be trained, and in short, there will not be too much fault.

The reason why this matter was handed over to William was not only to increase William's prestige, but also because Arthur had more important things to do, which was to inspect the progress of the nuclear weapons research project.

For Arthur, nuclear weapons are the trump card weapons that he dreams of owning, and they are also an important means to ensure the development and strength of Australasia.

As long as he can lead the world in developing nuclear weapons, the blank time when other countries do not have nuclear weapons is the time for Australasia to use nuclear weapons freely.

When some powerful countries have nuclear weapons, this kind of weapon is more of a deterrent, not a commonly used weapon.

Therefore, it is very important to develop nuclear weapons as soon as possible. If nuclear weapons can be developed before the Second World War, the next war will become much easier.

Especially in the face of such a crazy enemy as the island country, Arthur can use nuclear weapons unscrupulously and without any psychological burden.

It may not be possible to completely eliminate this nation, but if it is just to eliminate this country, it can actually be done.

Speaking of nuclear weapons, the production process of nuclear weapons in later generations is actually very clear. But for Australasia now, because it is an explorer and pioneer in nuclear weapons, what it has to go through is actually more difficult and complicated.

More importantly, the United States began to develop nuclear weapons in 1939, while Australasia's nuclear weapons development began after World War I.

The era of development is different, and the difficulty is also different.

When the United States developed nuclear weapons, the relevant nuclear theories were mature, and Germany also competed with the United States to develop nuclear weapons.

But now, the theory related to nuclear weapons is not mature, and other countries have not even considered the concept related to nuclear weapons.

People are still not aware that a certain uranium element in uranium ore can bring great power and great benefits to people.

There are two very important steps to develop nuclear weapons.

The first is to extract the real raw material for making nuclear weapons from a large amount of uranium ore, that is, the famous uranium 235.

Don't think that this is simple. You know, the content of uranium 235 in general uranium ore is only 7%, which is a very low level.

If this is the case, the remaining 3% of uranium ore is almost all uranium 238, which is an element very similar to uranium 235.

The difference between the two is really not big. They both have 92 protons. The only difference is that uranium 238 has a few more neutrons.

But the key to whether nuclear weapons can be made lies in these neutrons.

The reason why uranium 235 can release huge energy is that after uranium 235 absorbs low-energy neutrons, it will release two neutrons during the fission process. The released neutrons are absorbed by other uranium 235, which promotes new fission and releases new neutrons.

In this way, a complete "chain reaction" is formed. The energy generated by each fission continues to accumulate, which is why nuclear weapons are so powerful.

Uranium 238 is different from uranium 235. After uranium 238 absorbs neutrons, it will form uranium 239 with 147 neutrons. It will not release any matter or energy. It will silently swallow the neutrons and stay with uranium 235. Neutrons go out and in at the same time, which forms a balance.

How to distinguish two extremely similar elements and extract a small amount of uranium 235 from a large amount of uranium ore is the first task for the nuclear weapons research project team.

The method currently used by the Australasian nuclear weapons research project team is the gas separation method.

Simply put, because of the difference in neutrons, the masses of uranium 235 and uranium 238 are also different.

After these two substances of different masses are converted into gas, the gases of different masses will slowly separate, the heavy ones sink, and the light ones float.

In this way, it is easier to distinguish uranium 235 and uranium 238, and extract the uranium element that is truly suitable for making nuclear weapons.

But this is just a theory proposed by Einstein and Oppenheimer, and there are still many difficulties in actual practice.

The first is how to gasify uranium ore.

This is not a simple heating that can be gasified. The gasification of uranium ore requires a high temperature of 4131 degrees Celsius. How to achieve such a high temperature is a serious problem.

In addition, it is necessary to find a container that can withstand such high temperatures to preserve the gas from the uranium ore vaporization instead of letting it escape.

High temperatures are not difficult, but the research team spent nearly a year looking for high-temperature resistant materials.

In the end, it was Oppenheimer, who had just joined the project team, who proposed a plan to synthesize uranium compounds with lower boiling points after research and discussion with Einstein.

This can be regarded as a disguised trick. Since it is impossible to find a material that can withstand a high temperature of 4100 degrees Celsius, it is better to lower the temperature of uranium vaporization and solve this problem in disguise.

In the end, after more than a year of searching by the nuclear weapons research team led by Oppenheimer and Einstein, it was finally discovered that uranium hexafluoride, a compound synthesized by fluorine and uranium, not only has few isotopes, but also has a low boiling point. In theory, it is a substance that is very good at separating the two uraniums.

But then, the problem that troubled Einstein and Oppenheimer came again. How to synthesize uranium hexafluoride?

You know, it is very difficult to synthesize pure uranium hexafluoride, and it will be life-threatening if you are not careful.

This kind of experiment is not a normal play. Death will not joke with these scientists, and there will be no accidents because of the importance of the project.

Uranium hexafluoride is very active and can easily react with hydrogen in the air to explode.

Even if it touches a little water vapor, uranium hexafluoride can also form a highly corrosive and toxic substance-hydrofluoric acid.

From this stage, the development of nuclear weapons has become extremely dangerous and deadly.

Before, the research on uranium ore was only radioactive. If the radiation protection was properly carried out, it would not cause much harm to the scientists' bodies.

But now it is different. Once there is any mistake in the experiment, it is likely to cause a large number of casualties among the experimenters, which is also a huge loss for Australasia.

In order to protect state secrets from being leaked, these technical experts who study nuclear weapons live alone in a small confidential city, surrounded by military protection.

These experts are selected to ensure that they are scientists loyal to the country and the royal family. They did not flinch in the face of such severe dangers, which also made Arthur very satisfied with their performance.

Arthur will naturally not be stingy in treating these loyal ministers of the country. First of all, the salaries of these scientists are more than twice that of ordinary scientists. With bonuses, their income is definitely among the best in the country.

Secondly, the country also has corresponding policies to subsidize and protect their families.

All the children of scientists are free of charge from primary school to university. Not only are all kinds of book fees exempted, but even tuition and miscellaneous fees are directly exempted.

This can be regarded as showing these scientists how much Arthur values ​​them. For these scientists who can give everything for the country, Arthur will protect the interests and safety of them and their families at all costs.

More than ten years later, when Arthur came to the city where the nuclear weapons research team was located again, the research and development of nuclear weapons had reached the final stage.

At present, the research team has successfully synthesized uranium hexafluoride and is trying to separate more uranium 235.

This actually means that the nuclear weapons that Arthur has been thinking about will soon be born. After having a sufficient amount of uranium 235, the research team can use these uranium 235 to make powerful nuclear weapons.

However, it is also a huge problem to separate enough uranium 235.

The current nuclear weapons research and development team has tried two methods, which are also the centrifugal method and diffusion method commonly used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons in later generations.

The centrifugal method is to use the high-speed rotation of the centrifuge to separate gases of different masses to different locations.

However, the centrifuges used to produce nuclear weapons need to be able to generate a centrifugal force that is a million times greater than gravity, and at the same time be as corrosion-resistant as possible. This places great demands on the centrifuges. The centrifuges currently manufactured by the research team cannot fully meet the requirements of producing large quantities of uranium 235.

Another method is the diffusion method.

It fits the name very well. In fact, it is to allow the gas to diffuse quickly. Depending on its mass, the speed of gas diffusion will also be different.

Put uranium hexafluoride into a low-pressure container, and the light gas will diffuse first. Collect it, and then repeat this process continuously to purify enough uranium 235.

Although this method does not require very advanced instruments, the efficiency of purifying uranium 235 is very slow.

Moreover, according to calculations by Einstein and Oppenheimer, in order to produce reliable nuclear weapons, the purity of uranium 235 must be at least 80%, which also means that the two methods currently mastered by Australasia are actually not very reliable.

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